Chapter 7: Regret

((Author's Note: Hey! Sorry again for the long wait! School's been keeping me super busy lately! Thank you for all the encouragement and reviews! I really appreciate them! I hope you guys are enjoying the Fanfiction! XD)) ((Warning: There is violence and gore))

Luffy's glowing body didn't make Zoro waver for even a second. It seemed that the swordsman didn't even care about the new form his captain took, either that or he was too focused on blood to notice. In a flash, the rubber man disappeared and reappeared behind the pirate hunter, his movements where so fast that it looked like he teleported there. "Gum Gum jet whip!" The rubber man cried as Luffy threw a high speed kick aimed at the back of Zoro's head. Using his own inhuman speed, the swordsman placed his sword behind him in time to block the attack. Luffy's leg hit the flat part of the blade and retracted back to the rubber man in an instant. While Luffy was still airborne Zoro spun around creating a tornado of slashes that rose up from the ground but his attack seemed different from before. The swordsman's dark aura mixed in with the slashes creating a tornado of darkness.

"Dragon Twister." The swordsman muttered darkly as he waited to hear Luffy's scream. The cry of pain never came as the captain moved away in the blink of an eye appearing behind the swordsman once again. The rubber man's leg was already stretched out far above Zoro's head before the swordsman could even turn around. Luffy brought down his foot with all the strength he could muster on top of the pirate hunter.

"Gum Gum Jet Axe!" He yelled as the foot came down with such speed that the Straw Hats only saw a blur. The leg hit down strongly on Zoro's shoulder, it was so powerful that the shockwave shook the entire boat as the swordsman's body hit the deck. At the moment of impact Zoro's dark aura bursted out of control causing a flicker of pain to take over Luffy's eyes as he followed through with the attack. The pain was quickly washed over with resolve, as he pulled his leg back to him and away from the aura.

The pirate hunter didn't make a sound despite the fact that it was such a powerful attack and the dark aura was still surrounding his body. Zoro lied on the ground motionlessly for only seconds until he started to get up limply, his body swaying slightly in the process. The pirate hunter looked at Luffy once again with the same demonic eyes as before with no pain expressed on his face, as if he was unaffected by the attack. Luffy gritted his teeth together frustrated that his attack didn't do anything.

He jumped up as high as he could in another blur putting the bottom of his feet together with a clap from his sandals. "Gum Gum Jet Spear!" He chanted again with more anger in his voice this time as the two feet stretched down too quickly for the swordsman to react, hitting Zoro in the chest this time. Just like Luffy's last attack, the pirate hunter's dark aura bursted out of control when he was hit causing Luffy to wince in pain as the swordsman's body struck the deck harshly creating a shockwave throughout the boat from the impact. A little bit of blood escaped from the side of the pirate hunter's mouth as Luffy's legs came back to him with a snap. He fell back down to the deck lightly, barley making a noise as he locked his gaze onto Zoro to see if his swordsman would get up again. Luffy knew that he must have broken some of the swordsman's ribs with that attack, even though they were already broken to begin with.

Bloodthirsty red eyes snapped open and shifted towards Luffy causing the rubber man to jolt forward as if he was going to be attacked. The swordsman got up again, swaying back and forth limply, in sync with the waves bellow him. "Show me..." A cold voice escaped from Zoro's lips so full of bloodlust that it was shaking. A slight smirk played across the pirate hunter's lips around the katana in his mouth as he took a step forward towards Luffy who backed away slightly, still waiting for an attack. "Show me your blood!" Zoro demanded darkly moving faster towards his captain. The pirate hunter placed the two swords in his hands behind the katana in his mouth gripping them a little bit tighter. "Tiger Trap." He chanted whipping his swords out from behind the katana in his mouth and slashing downwards at Luffy's chest.

The captain raised his hands to block until he saw the blue, bloody mess that they've become. Luffy widened his eyes slightly seeing that his technique was making them bleed twice as much as before. He got a little light headed stumbling forward and giving Zoro an opening. Without mercy, the swordsman brought his swords down with all his might deeply slashing Luffy's right shoulder straight down his chest to his right hip. More blood gushed out of the two gash wounds, splashing on the deck floor and all over Zoro. The captain shouted weakly in pain stumbling backwards and using all of his willpower not to fall over. The pirate hunter smirked widely as his eyes grew colder than ever before. He began chuckling darkly while he looked at the captain's blood splattered all over his body.

"LUFFY!" The pirates screeched at their bleeding captain as the terror of Luffy dying struck all of the Straw Hat's hearts. The rubber man swayed back and forth weakly as he took a step towards the swordsman once again.

"I-it's... It's n-not... Over..." The captain coughed out as his entire body shook. "Gum Gum..." Luffy began to say ready to attack his swordsman with another kick when Zoro's dark face came very close to Luffy's in an instant, so fast that the rubber man didn't notice until it was too late. Just from this fight, the swordsman's demon became so strong that it could surpass the speed of Luffy's second gear.

The rubber man widened his eyes in shock too weak to move out of the way. With the same mercilessness from before, the swordsman thrusted his katana at Luffy's heart.

A second before the steel pierced through Luffy, the captain noticed his swordsman's expression flicker back to normal for only a second. It was full of despair and sadness but he still couldn't control his body. The sword pierced the left side of Luffy's chest splashing more blood on to the swordsman as his katana thrusted through the rubber man's body.

"NOOOO!" The Straw Hats yelled in anguish and shock seeing Zoro's blood stained sword run their captain through. Luffy's eyes shook as he grunted in pain, coughing up a splash of blood as his second gear faded away. The swordsman's smirk grew wider and more bloodthirsty as he ripped his sword out of Luffy sending more blood splashing on Zoro.

"I-I...'m... so...rr...y..." The captain struggled to say. His voice was shaking as tears rolled down the rubber man's cheeks. 'I wasn't able to save you...' Luffy thought to himself with regret, unable to say another word as he lost consciousness. Zoro's smirk disappeared and his eyes widened watching his captain fall lifelessly to the ground.

"Lu…ffy...?" Zoro questioned slowly not believing his eyes and looked down at his hands gripped around the katana to see that they were stained with Luffy's blood. His entire body started to shake as the swordsman began to breathe heavily. His dark expression faded to anguish as he dropped his three swords to the floor, falling down onto his knees. "LUFFY!" The pirate hunter yelled in a panic as the dark aura disappeared and his fangs retracted back to normal teeth.

The pirates finally snapped themselves out of their shock running towards the motionless rubber man. Sanji, Franky and Robin slid between Luffy and Zoro ready to attack the swordsman. It did say that it was impossible for the half-demon to regain control once his fangs appeared… So how could they be sure that whoever just yelled was really Zoro…? They knew that he could turn back into a demon any minute and attack again. The rest of his nakama ran by the captain's side. Luffy's body was soon surrounded by a puddle of his own blood causing the Straw Hat's hearts shattered.

'I... Killed Luffy...' The swordsman thought to himself as tears formed in his eyes. 'Luffy's dead and I... killed... him...' Zoro looked at the palm of his hands seeing Luffy's blood all over them. The pirate hunter squeezed his eyes shut placing his shaking hands over his tanned face with regret causing some of Luffy's blood to rub off on his cheeks. The terrified looks edged on the Straw Hat's faces didn't fade away despite seeing Zoro breaking down in front of them. They were still looking at the swordsman like he was a monster, to the swordsman it was as if they were contemplating to kill him right then and there. Zoro almost wished they would so he wouldn't have to hurt any more of his nakama. It's what he deserved after all, for killing one of his closest friends in cold blood.

Nami knelt down beside her captain on the verge of having a breakdown but the navigator knew that Luffy didn't have time for her to collapse so she held it in, waiting for the doctor to give out orders. Nami wanted to help in any way she could, ignoring the fact that her skirt and legs where now covered in the captain's blood. Chopper wept quietly to himself still keeping a steady grip on his equipment while checking Luffy's vital signs. The reindeer cleared his mind of everything that didn't have to do with the captain's medical condition and continued his checkup professionally, forgetting about everything that he just witnessed for the moment. Luffy's blood pressure was severely low, a weak pulse, his heart was beating irregularly and the rubber man was taking quick, shallow breaths unable to get the air he needed. "Luffy's going into shock! Nami, lift Luffy's feet 12 inches off the ground!" He demanded anxiously but professionally. The navigator nodded lifting Luffy's feet slowly feeling his icy cold, clammy skin on the palm of her hands. She placed his legs on her lap not questioning the doctor's orders even though she couldn't understand his reasoning due to her lack of medical knowledge. Chopper had saved all their lives before and Nami trusted that he could do it again. "Brook, get me something warm like a coat or a blanket!" The doctor ordered not taking his gaze off of Luffy for even a second.

"Alright!" The musician nodded whipping away his tears and started to run towards the closest door to them grabbing the first thing he saw. Chopper whipped out his bandages starting to wrap up Luffy's more severe injuries first. As soon as the white bandages made contact with the captain's cut up skin they were stained red causing Nami to shutter. When the doctor was finally finished wrapping Luffy up to stop the bleeding Brook came running back with a thick brown blanket slung over his shoulder. He handed it to Chopper who gently placed it over Luffy's shivering body.

"Everything is going to be ok..." Chopper said worryingly trying to reassure Luffy but he sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. "It must be some kind of miracle... The blade just barely missed his heart, but it still missed..." Chopper knew something must have happened, with Zoro's skills he could easily have stabbed his katana through Luffy's heart so why did it miss?

The swordsman widened his eyes slowly brining his hands down from his face. "Luffy's going to live?" Zoro asked quietly to himself, still shaken up. Chopper changed to his heavy point form and lifted his small blue bag off the ground.

"He should be ok to move now. We have to bring him to the infirmity to continue the treatment." The doctor said grimly realizing that he might have given his nakama false hope. "Robin can you make a stretcher? We can't move him like this..." The archaeologist nodded quietly crossing her arms as a bunch of hands came sprouting out from the ground grabbing onto one another until the net of arms resembled a stretcher. "Alright, lift him carefully now." Chopper warned taking a firm but gentle grip on Luffy's shoulders as Nami stood up, taking his legs. They both placed him gently on the handmade stretcher and the three of them carried him off to the infirmary quickly but carefully as the rest of Luffy's crew stayed on the deck with Zoro.

After what felt like hours Chopper and the girls finally got in the infirmary and shut the door firmly behind them. When Zoro was sure they were gone he finally stood up keeping his head down, causing a shadow to cover his red eyes. Zoro's movement made his nakama jump into their fighting position getting ready for the swordsman to attack them again. The pirate hunter just slowly picked up his katana and placed them back in his sheath feeling the heavy silence of the room, along with the killing intent of his nakama. "Aren't you gonna say anything Zoro!?" Sanji growled angrily thinking that Zoro was still under the demon's control. He took a step forward and rose his foot slowly for an attack when the swordsman lifted his head getting rid of the shadows and revealing a small tear running down Zoro's face. He glanced at Sanji with empty eyes causing the blonde's heart to drop. The pirate hunter's eyes looked so sorrowful, like he had nothing left to live for. The Straw Hats swallowed hard seeing the swordsman's gaze drop back to the ground as Zoro turned his back to them.

"What a splendid show!" A sly voice echoed through the darkened sky as the sound of clapping ringed in their ears. "You did well, Roronoa Zoro." The swordsman tensed up turning his head slowly to where the voice was coming from. Yusuke was sitting high up on the main mast of the ship while his assistant stood closely next to him standing so stiffly that he looked like a marine. "It seems like the nightmare worked better than expected. I'm still quite surprised that you were able to regain control once you turned, but that can be fixed with a little more time." He sneered with a wide smirk on his face.

"So you… were responsible for that dream…?" The swordsman asked unsuccessfully suppressing his broken and sorrowful shaking voice. Yusuke slowly nodded as Zoro's entire body shuttered remembering the horrifying dream of his nakama being slaughtered right in front of him. The swordsman remembered how useless he was, he remembered how he couldn't do anything to save his friends but quickly shook it off reminding himself that it was only a dream.

Sanji glanced at Zoro and Yusuke remembering how terrified the swordsman looked when the cook found him in the infirmary. He remembered how strong his dark aura was, and how much it hurt too. Seeing Zoro shake just from remembering his dream, made Sanji unable imagine what the swordsman went through.

Yusuke jumped down from the mast calmly and gracefully as his assistant followed close behind. "Ah, but it was more than a dream." The purple haired man said as if he was reading the swordsman's mind. Yusuke chuckled again walking towards Zoro.

"What… do you mean?" The swordsman asked with a threatening yet still despair filled voice, shooting Yusuke an intimidating glare. The only thing that kept Zoro going was the hope that Luffy would live. The purple haired man just chuckled louder at the tone. He disappeared and reappeared in front of the pirate hunter, too fast for anybody to react. He placed his hand underneath the swordsman's chin gently, raising his head and looking deeply into Zoro's eyes.

"What a beautiful shade of red." The man said darkly, ignoring Zoro's question. The pirate hunter drew his sword slashing at Yusuke angrily with all his might. The purple haired man simply jumped back, dodging the swing easily. "My, my, now wasn't that uncalled for?" He teased continuing to smirk at Zoro coldly. The swordsman really couldn't take this anymore… Zoro couldn't help but use anger to keep his body moving… Anger is what stopped his sadness from taking over and crushing his every will to live.

The Straw Hats reached the end of their patience sliding between the two of them. Half of the pirates where facing Zoro and the other half where facing Yusuke as if they were both the enemy. "Ah, I see that the trust in your swordsman has already faded." The purple haired man laughed shifting his gaze between the two Straw Hats facing him. He smiled to himself thinking about how weak they looked, his so called 'opponents' where only a cyborg in underwear and a pile of bones. They seemed so fragile, so easy to kill that this fight was more like a predator about to kill its prey. The thought made Yusuke's whole body tremble in excitement.

"I shall not let you take a single step towards Zoro-san..." Brook threatened pointing the tip of his sword at Yusuke. The skeleton's determination only made the purple haired man laugh again. Yusuke lifted his foot slowly to take a step forward when Brook's sword thrusted quickly towards Yusuke forcing him to jump back.

"Oh? So that indeed, wasn't a bluff." Yusuke mocked as his smirk grew wider. The purple hair man sighed placing his fingertips lightly against his forehead and leaned back. "I'm getting quite tired of this nonsense. I have no interest in the two of you." Yusuke taunted as he picked up the pace.

The next thing Brook saw was the purple haired man right in front of him; Yusuke was too fast to see any of his movements. He was even too fast to see a blur as he moved; Yusuke was even faster than Luffy and Zoro! The musician froze in place unable to react as the sound of multiple bullets being fired boomed in his ear.

"Weapons Left!" Franky announced determinedly. Despite the bullet's speed, the purple haired man leaped back easily dodging the bullets. "Don't even think about it!" The ship write warned as Yusuke landed graciously beside his assistant.

"How interesting... You actually think you can defeat me?" The purple haired man chuckled darkly sighing with pleasure when he was finished. "Don't make me laugh, mere humans can never wish to attain the power of a demon. That includes your half breed friend over there." He sneered with a hint of anger in his voice. His glance shifted over to the green haired swordsman as Yusuke started to listen in on the Straw Hat's conversation.

"O-oi Zoro! Is that you?" Usopp asked trembling behind Sanji as the two of them tried to look into Zoro's red eyes. The swordsman refused to meet their gaze continuing to look at the deck bellow him. He watched the grass blow lightly in the breeze, without a care in the world, without even caring that it was covered in Luffy's blood.

"I... don't know..." The pirate hunter answered his voice wavering vigorously as he sued such a broken tone to respond. He remembered when this all started, how Zoro thought he was in complete control of himself when he woke up, he thought that everything was going to be ok. Then... just the slightest drop of blood caused him to attack Luffy. This whole situation was just too familiar… It made Zoro sick to his stomach.

Throughout this struggle Sanji silently observed Zoro's behavior deducing that the swordsman was in control for the time being, but no one knew when he would turn again. The fact that Zoro's eyes haven't turned to normal again made the blonde uneasy. The swordsman's eyes usually fade to their original color after he gains control for a few seconds and that's also the time when Zoro feels the pain from all of his injuries. So why is it taking so long for them to turn back now? "Either way... This isn't the time to think about that." The cook said to himself out loud turning to face Yusuke with Franky and Brook. "Usopp, watch the marimo..." Sanji muttered to the sniper with his back turned. The cook knew he wasn't able to do much with his broken arms but he couldn't just sit back and watch either, not again...

"Ah... So one more pawn dares to challenge the king." Yusuke jeered cunningly watching the blonde get into his fighting stance. Sanji stared back at him in disgust and hatred. "Oh my, what a scary look." The purple hair man said sarcastically, mocking the cook. "Maybe you should have followed the lead of your long nosed friend over there." Yusuke grinned watching Usopp back away slowly towards Zoro.

"Usopp's just preparing for the main event!" Franky yelled running towards Yusuke. Kurayami had enough of waiting and took a step forward to protect his master but was waved off almost immediately.

"Now don't be so hasty Kurayami. Let's have a little bit of fun before we leave. These ants were able to peek my interested." When the cyborg finally got into range of the purple haired man he began throwing a barrage of punches at Yusuke trying to land a hit.

"Franky Boxing!" The ship write chanted trying to punch faster and faster as the purple haired man fluttered between his attacks like a falling leaf, dodging every blow. After seeing Yusuke dodge his punches so easily Franky pulled back his fists taking a deep breath and exhaling a strong burst of fire at the demon. "Fresh Fire!" Franky yelled jumping back to watch his enemy burn.

"Interesting... I didn't know humans could breathe fire." Yusuke pondered sounding completely unaffected by the attack. As the fire cleared, it revealed an empty space with nothing but burnt grass.

"That's because I'm a cyborg!" Franky announced into the open air having no idea where Yusuke was. "And there's a lot more where that came from!" The ship write stated proudly masking over his worry that one of his strongest attacks didn't do anything.

"A cyborg? How intriguing!" Yusuke smiled, analyzing the blue haired man. Zoro and Usopp's eyes widened when they felt a chill from behind them pass through their body. He turned around slowly seeing Yusuke looking down at them, smiling darkly. "Yet it seems that even in your manufactured body you can't keep up with me."

Without a moment of hesitation Zoro drew his sword getting up and spinning around to slash Yusuke quickly. The Straw Hat's all froze in place seeing Zoro's empty eyes grow angrier as the purple haired man dodged his slash effortlessly.

"Oh how interesting... So you still have enough will power to regain complete control after all." The demon snickered as his dark smirk grew wider. "That won't last much longer." The Straw Hats turned towards the swordsman slowly seeing Zoro's empty red eyes finally fade to their original color as the pirate hunter dropped weakly onto his knees starting to pant heavily. Yusuke laughed darkly as he watched Zoro stab his sword into the ground desperately trying to get up. "What a pitiful creature." The purple haired man sighed as he reached to push the swordsman over.

To his surprise the pirate hunter grabbed Yusuke's hand squeezing it tightly. Zoro looked up from the ground and gave the purple haired man an intimidating look, tightening his grip on Yusuke's arm. "I'm not... your damn pawn...!" Zoro snarled angrily as he weakly pulled his katana out from the ground and slashed at the demon. With the pirate hunter's injured state Yusuke was able to use two of his fingers to effortlessly catch Zoro's katana.

"Oh? You are not my pawn?" The purple haired man's smile dropped slightly as he grabbed the swordsman's head covering Zoro's eyes slightly. The pirate hunter glared at Yusuke through the purple haired man's fingers refusing to back down. "Your eyes... You think you're my equal?" The demon asked in a sly tone. "A half breed like you could never be my equal." Yusuke raised his voice slightly with a hint of anger showing through the mocking tone. He tightened his grip on the pirate hunter's face lifting him slowly off the ground. However, Zoro kept the tight grip on his sword and placed his other hand weakly on the purple haired man's arm trying to break free of the grip, but it was no use.

"Relax, it's too soon for me to kill you. I still have use for your power." Yusuke smiled at Zoro's useless struggling as the swordsman gasped for breath. "Since you're such a stubborn little one I'll have to give your demon a bit more of an edge~!" He sneered, licking his lips at the thought of what he was about to do.

When Zoro's struggling finally died down due to his injured state and lack of oxygen a dark aura started to cover Yusuke and absorb into the pirate hunter's body. "W-Wha…-" The pirate hunter stuttered being cut off by a wave of pain as his eyes widened. The swordsman's aura began bursting out of control and his grip loosened on his swords. Yusuke increased the size of his aura causing the swordsman to start yelling in pain.

"Zoro!" The Straw Hats yelled watching Yusuke pump his aura into their swordsman as Zoro's blood curling screams ringed in their ears.

...

The swordsman closed and reopened his eyes seeing nothing but darkness. This place was quite familiar to him now, but something was missing. Suddenly Zoro's train of thought was stopped by a severe pain in the fingers on his right hand and winced grabbing them. 'W-what the...?' The swordsman looking down at his fingers and only could make out the outline of them. They were completely black blending into the background. He widened his eyes seeing the darkness begin to crawl up his hand as more pain flushed over him. Zoro grabbed his hand trying to stop the darkness from spreading any further but even with all of his efforts he could only slow it down. 'What's going on!?' The swordsman asked painfully straining to slow the darkness down by even a little bit.

"It seems that your will power isn't as strong as you thought, Roronoa Zoro." Another voice echoed in the darkness. The shadow began crawling up his arm as more intense pain coursed through his newly darkened limb. The pirate hunter gritted his teeth together as he felt his consciousness slipping away.

'Why are you here!?' Zoro shouted angrily recognizing Yusuke's sly voice. He let go of his hurting hand about to reach for his swords when dark arms grabbed him from behind holding the swordsman still with inhuman strength. Zoro turned his head to see a lit up smile in the darkness and narrowed his eyes. 'Let go!' The swordsman said threateningly but his voice soon went from an intimidating tone to anguish. Zoro started shouting in pain as the darkness spread up to his elbow. It seemed like the more he was devoured, the more intense the pain was.

"Relax Roronoa Zoro, I just have some helpful information... I'm sure you've noticed by now, that you are slowly being devoured." The swordsman didn't even have to speak to answer Yusuke's question, the look of desperation on his face said it all. "Well, you know better than anyone that when you lose consciousness you also lose control of yourself..."

'Where... are you going with this!?' Zoro asked weakly still trying to manage a threatening tone and push the pain out of his voice.

Yusuke licked his lips slowly, exited to see what would happen next. "Well, I just gave your demon side... A little push. At this stage if you let down your guard for even a second, if you fall asleep, relax, do anything to lose your willpower or to strengthen your demon side, you'll be devoured by your demon side instantly and there will be no coming back."

'Devoured... by my demon side?' Zoro chocked out quietly struggling to raise his head. He coughed up blood and grabbed his face trying to stay conscious.

"Precisely! In addition to seeing blood... Now you'll lose control if you feeling strong emotions, like anger..." Yusuke said with a growing smile. Zoro widened his eyes making the purple haired man's face light up in pleasure at the swordsman's despair. The figure finally let go of Zoro causing him to stumble forward slightly.

'So I don't have much time left...' The swordsman said to himself grimly looking at his arm. 'I won't let this thing devour me...' The swordsman grabbed his arm again squeezing it tightly as the darkness crawled up passed his elbow.

"Don't fight it! Give in to what you really want, power, blood, death!" The figure said darkly giving Zoro a sick, twisted smile.

'Not this crap again... I already told you I-' The swordsman's eyes widened yelling in pain as his legs collapsed from under him. Thinking about blood made the darkness move twice as fast up his arm and was now to his shoulder. Zoro hunched over on the ground grabbing his arm as tightly as he could desperately trying to make the searing pain stop.

The purple haired man laughed darkly moving a strand of hair away from his face. "It's only about time now, you'll be completely devoured any minute, and then you'll be ready." Yusuke said excitedly.

'Ready... For... What?' Zoro asked slowly in between gasps shifting his gaze up at Yusuke forcing himself to stop yelling from the pain to hear the purple haired man's answer.

"I'm going to use you, Roronoa Zoro, to exterminate the human race, starting with the East Blue!" Flashes of Zoro's nakama flood his mind and he narrowed his eyes.

'Why...? Do you want... to destroy humans!?' The pirate hunter choked out climbing to his feet and breathing heavily.

"Humans are such weak and pitiful creatures, I'm doing them a favor in all honesty. I just hate seeing such weaklings living amongst kings. They need to know their place... I'll make them suffer for daring to see me as their equal." The purple haired man explained with a sick grin. "I hate half breeds like you the most, mixing the blood of a god with the blood of an ant. How sickening! That's why I'm going to make you suffer the most, Roronoa Zoro..." Yusuke finished as his lips curled up further.

'Bull shit...' Zoro muttered reaching for his sword as he heard the figure laughing uncontrollably. 'You want to kill so many people just because you think you're superior!?' The swordsman shouted angrily gripping his sword when unbearable pain shot through his body as a blood curling scream escaped him.

"What did I say about getting angry?" Yusuke mocked as the darkness started to spread to Zoro's neck. The swordsman shouted louder and gripped his arm tighter as the figure's laughter rung at an ear blasting volume continuing to grow louder.

...

The swordsman's screams began to sound louder and more painful infuriating the Straw Hats to a point where they we're about to explode. Sanji quickly took a step forward with a furious look on his face but jolted back quickly against his will. Franky grabbed the cook's shirt just in time to stop him. "What do you think you're going to do with those arms of yours? Just stay put." The cyborg said sternly letting go of the blonde's shirt slowly. "Brook's got this!"

While the demon was focused on Zoro, Brook ran out from behind the cyborg lunging at the purple haired man with his steel blade making sure not to hit his nakama. The skeleton thought it was the perfect time since the demon had dropped his guard but to Brook's surprise Yusuke stepped to the side easily dodging the sword in an instant. "It's not very polite to interrupt." The demon taunted as his aura faded. He dropped Zoro to the ground causing the swordsman to fall limply to the ground groaning quietly in pain.

Yusuke placed his hand by his side to reveal a purple hilt as he swiftly pulled out a long katana. The purple haired man leaned forward hitting the skeleton in the stomach with its hilt then quickly putting the blade back in one quick movement. The impact caused Brook to fly back and lose grip on his sword as the blade fell to the ground.

"Brook!" Franky, Sanji and Usopp yelled as the skeleton's light body soared into the ship write's hands. The cyborg caught his nakama before he hit the deck easily because of the musician's light weight.

"You ok?" Franky asked worryingly. The skeleton moved his bones making small clicking noises as he stood up and brushed off his cloths.

"I'm quite alright Franky-san." Brook said calmly looking at his sword which was now lying on the ground close to Yusuke, Zoro and Usopp. "I'm afraid that my sword is now out of reach though." The skeleton informed his nakama sadly.

"Now, now, relax everyone. As I said before I'm not here to kill your swordsman. I just gave him a helping hand, that's all." He said smiling as he looked down at the swordsman groaning in pain bellow him.

"Come Kurayami, we've completed our goal for today." Yusuke laughed again jumping back to the edge of the boat as his assistant followed. "Be careful... Your demon is only getting stronger. It's only a matter of time before you're devoured." The purple haired man sneered jumping off the Sunny into the water just like last time. "The demon will feast on your will, until there is nothing left." He warned before he fell out of sight.

The Straw Hats watched Yusuke leave carefully, unable to stop him. Once he was out of sight Usopp, Brook, Sanji and Franky ran towards the swordsman who was still hunched over on the ground in pain. The sniper bent down to help Zoro when his hands where quickly swatted away by the swordsman.

"I'm fine...!" Zoro lied quickly as blood escaped from the side of his mouth. He didn't want anybody to go anywhere near him… He was absolutely disgusted with himself. "I'm... Not the one you have to w-worry about right now." He said as sternly as he possibly could in his condition. Now that Yusuke was gone so was the anger that Zoro was feeling… The swordsman's expression sank back down to empty anguish as he stared at the ground bellow him. Pity from his nakama was the last thing Zoro wanted right now, especially after what he did to Luffy. The swordsman hoped that his captain was alright, Luffy was the one that everybody needed to focus on. Zoro refused to have anyone worry about him, he was the enemy after all...

...

"Nami pass me the oxygen mask! Robin get be the intravenous!" Chopper ordered sending the girls scrambling around the infirmity while he checked Luffy's vitals another time. The two of them practically turned the whole room upside down to find the items they were looking for as quickly as possible. The girls handed the oxygen mask and the intravenous liquids to Chopper as quickly as they could, breathing heavily from the panic. Once he had the equipment, the doctor hooked Luffy up to the intravenous and oxygen somehow looking more anxious then before.

"Chopper what's wrong?" Nami asked hesitantly scared to hear the answer to her question.

"Luffy's arteries and veins close to his heart are severely damaged." Chopper sniffled taking a ragged breath of air unable to calm himself down. "He's going through hypovolemic shock and neurogenic shock... His heart rate keeps on decreasing too..." The doctor said with a shaking voice full of hopelessness still managing to sound professional. "At this rate... Luffy will die within 3 hours."

Nami and Robin's hearts stopped at that very moment looking over at their motionless captain. "W-what... Is h-hypovolemic shock and neurogenic shock?" Nami asked slowly with a wavering voice.

"Hypovolemic shock is from bleeding and neurogenic shock is from severe emotional disturbance..." Robin answered sounding very distracted as if she was talking to herself. "Considering the situation, those are the two most likely causes for his symptoms." The archeologist said agreeing with Chopper.

"Well how can we save him!?" Nami shouted in a pleading voice putting her shaking hands on the doctor's shoulders, squeezing them tightly.

"I've done all I can... It's up to Luffy now..." Chopper said emotionlessly lowering his head and causing his pink hat to cover his eyes. The doctor turned around slowly starting to walk towards the door. "I better go check on the others..." The reindeer said grimly. "Can one of you stay to watch Luffy?" He asked opening the door slowly and walking out onto the deck.

"Don't worry about it Nami, I'll watch the captain for a while, go clean up and get some rest." Robin said smiling calmly and sitting down in the chair next to Luffy's bed.

"Alright Robin, thank you." Nami nodded sadly walking slowly after Chopper onto the deck. When the door finally swung closed Robin's smile dropped as she stared sadly at her unconscious captain.

'I'm use to sitting here for Zoro... not you Luffy. You're always the one to cheer us up with that goofy grin of yours.' The archaeologist thought remembering the countless times she was by the swordsman's bedside. 'First Sanji and now you Luffy...' Robin contemplated, thinking about her nakama's fights with Zoro. 'How much worse can this possibly get?'

((Author's Note: That the end of another chapter! :3 I hope you found it interesting! Chapter 8 will hopefully come out quicker than this one!))